Pssst....

Lordy, Lordy, Look who's 40!!!!

Holiday Concert

One of these kids is not like the others.....

Yep, so, Kai likes to show off his tummy, so does his Mom!! (see post below)

Kai had his holiday program at his school and it was hilarious. We videotaped it and will try to post it (wait, really, how many of you truly want to see it? Ok, probably not a lot. Scratch that idea). Anyway, we were laughing so hard watching the 3-6 year old children up on stage doing their thing. And, they did it so well! Kai had been practicing for weeks and perfected Jingle Bells, Feeling Groovy (Go Simon and Garfunkel!), and some recycling tune.

Santa

Kai visited Santa this week-- he was so excited to finally meet the Big Guy!

He sat on his lap, gave him a big hug, and then told him he wanted a "Legos Firestation." When Santa asked him what else he wanted, Kai looked so confused and said, "You only get one toy." (Good boy! This is what I've been telling him!)

He also wrote a letter to Santa and mailed it-and woke up the next morning and wrote another letter to Santa to "make sure he remembers."

I tried to assure him that I think Santa got the message :)

29 weeks

Ok, so I feel HUGE right now-- it could be that I chase around an almost three year old all day or that I'm in the biggest nesting phase (it happened with Kai too and when I asked Joe about it the other day he laughed super hard and said he has never seen something like this before-- I am obsessed!) so I don't sit down too much or that I've eaten all of those cookies that Jane helped us make (is it bad to eat over a dozen cookies each day?)....but, whatever the case, this little girl is getting big!

Christmas Tree Part Two

So, Kai called me into the room a couple of days ago and said, "Look Mama, I decorated myself as a Christmas Tree."

A couple of things to point out: Why did he take off his clothes? Aren't you glad we use washable markers? And, yes, for those of you following Kai's fascination with all things private, he did color his "pee pee" and was quite proud of it. He said, "Mama, doesn't my pee-pee look so nice like this? I should do this everyday." I had no comment.

Christmas Prep

It's no wonder that Kai is loving Christmas-- so do Joe and I!

We found our "Charlie Brown" Christmas Tree (it leans so severely that I swear you think it's going to give you a hug), have made cookies (thanks to our neighbor Jane who came to the rescue and taught me a few things about baking), shoveled all of our snow, and made a snow angel or two.

Oh, speaking of angels, check out our angel at the top of the tree....the tallest tree branch with the smallest angel you've ever seen!

Song in my heart

Kai has been excited about his winter concert at school for the past week. We have been singing "Jingle Bells" numerous times a day and he is really getting into the Christmas spirit.

This morning, he woke up and told me he wanted to sing. We were still snuggling, with pajamas on, and stinky breath.

I asked him if he wanted to sing "Jingle Bells" again. He said, "No, mama, I want to sing the song I have in my heart."

I thought I heard him wrong so I said, "What did you say?" He said, "You know, the song I have in my heart that I just have to sing."

I said, "Well, let's hear this song in your heart." Then, he went on to sing a long song about Santa, snowmen, Jesus (my mom just bought him a book about Jesus and he told me he figured out that Santa and Jesus share the same birthday on x-mas), and then, of course, because he is our Kai, he also included "tooting" and "pee pee" in his song.

Sing it boy!

Laura's Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

So, really, there is just one recipe that people ask me for (probably because I don't bake that much and probably because this is really that delicious!). But, when I make this, everyone asks for it.

I just made it for Kt's Blessingway (well, actually Joe made it, because he is an all-star husband and I was having a crazy, busy day) and again, folks were raving about it!

I first had it at my bridal brunch (the day before our big day) when Sarah (Paar) Hanhan dished it up. I'll try to post a photo, but for now, if you need an amazing coffee cake-- go for it!

2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter

*Combine flour and sugar, cut in the butter. Set one cup aside for later.

1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. almond extract
2 eggs
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup raspberry preserves (or jam)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

*Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract, & 1 egg to the mixture above (the larger portion, not the one cup portion). Blend well.

*Spread the batter (you have to use your hands!) on the bottom of a greased and floured spring form pan and up the sides about two inches.

*In a small bowl, blend the cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg. Pour onto the batter.

*Carefully spread preserves over the cream cheese mixture from above.

*Put the rest of the four/sugar/butter mixture from the first part on top of the raspberry preserves, and put sliced almonds on top.

*Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes If you check it, the middle may be gooey but that is how it is supposed to be.

Enjoy! And, save me a piece!

China

Ok, this is a PG-13 posting....

I was reading to Kai a book about children living in China. After a few minutes of reading, Kai sat up and said, "How do kids live in China?" So, I explained how China was far away and you have to fly over an ocean to get there etc. But, he said again, "I don't think kids can live in China." So, again, I talked about how kids live in different countries all over the world. You get the picture.

Finally, in complete exasperation, he said, "But, Mama, no one lives in my pee-pee." I paused. I was completely confused.

Then, it hit me-- Kai's word for "vagina" is "gina" (not pronounced as the woman's name, but just take off the "va" from "vagina"). So, if you say this out loud, you realize that "gina" sounds a lot like "China."

I realized he thought the kids were living in someone's vagina. Oh, Joe and I had a good laugh about this one. It's all especially funny since Kai is very interested in babies right now and where they come from and he even asked my mom the other day if she had a "gina" and if he could see it!

Ay de mi!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was just my mom, Joe, Kai and I. A pretty tiny crowd, but a pretty fun crowd, if I don't say so myself...even though poor Joe had sinus infection #3 of this Fall.

The funniest part was Kai when we sat down at the table to have the big meal. He looked around and said very thoughtfully, "Where are all the people?"

We laughed so hard.

We started a new tradition of making gingerbread houses and also took our traditional walk to the Mississippi River. You know though, with such a small crowd, it truly takes on a slower pace and it let me reflect a bit more on the meaning of the season.

Here are some of the things I'm most thankful for this year:

1. My health. It has been over 3 years that I've been well!!! I have energy, a good immune system, and I would guess that most people who met me today would never believe that I spent a good almost two years in bed. I try to remember most mornings how lucky I am to cram so much into one day.

2. My happiness. I have learned that my happiness depends on one thing--me! Simple, right? But, oh did this take a lot of years and I'm still working on it....

3. My family. I am so deeply rooted in my family that I grew up in and also in the family that I am creating.

4. The future. We will have a new baby in March and a son who continues to keep us laughing...it helps to remind me that life just keeps getting better.

Well, I could go on and on, but I think I will head to bed, which leads me to:

5. Sleep!! Kai finally sleeps through the night. Hallelujah!!!

Christmas Card

Shhh......here it is: sneak preview to our x-mas card!